The Dublin Irish Festival

Celebrating 20 Years in 2007

Celebrating All Things Irish

The Dublin Irish Festival, now one of the top Irish festivals in the United States, began with the merger of two ideas.

The original idea for the event was pure - to expose people to authentic Irish culture. While maintaining that goal,the Dublin Irish Festival has expanded greatly to emerge asone of the top three Irish Festivals in the United States.

“I thought it would be great to establish a connection between the two Dublins, especially since we would celebrate our first anniversary as a city the same year that Dublin, Ireland, would celebrate its 1,000 th anniversary.” McLernon's idea resulted in a visit to Dublin, Ireland, by city officials from the younger Dublin

McLernon also was interested in creating what would be a year long celebration to honor the anniversaries and to showcase Irish art, music and culture. The 1/1000 Committee was formed to host events that included a party at the high school where “Happy Birthday, Dublin” was spelled out with green, white and orange balloons, performances by actors form the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, and the first Central Ohio appearance of the Chieftains.

The Columbus Feis Comes to Dublin

The Columbus Feis, an annual Irish dance competition, came to Dublin in 1988. After five years dancing outside at St. Charles Preparatory School in Bexley and then two years battling the heat and horseflies at the Franklin County fairgrounds, the Feis was moved to Dublin High School. Dublin, with its Irish name, seemed like the logical new home for the Feis.